Anil Ambani wants a bigger bite of TV Today

Reliance capital decides to increase its equity holding in TV Today Network from the current 11.9 per cent to 32 per cent, reports Arun Kumar.

Reliance capital, the flagship financial arm of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has decided to increase its equity holding in TV Today Network from the current 11.9 per cent to 32 per cent. TV Today runs 24-hour news and current affairs channels Aaj Tak, Tez and Dilli Aaj Tak in Hindi, and Headlines Today in English.

Reliance, following compliance with the Securities Exchange Board of India’s takeover code, has decided to give an open offer to buy 20 per cent of TV Today Network’s stakes from the open market.

Reliance officials say the investment is aimed at securing financial returns and involve no management ambitions. “Reliance Capital has strong confidence in the future prospects and growth potential of TV Today. The offer will not result in any change in the management or control of TV Today,” a spokesman for Reliance Capital said. TV Today’s chief executive G. Krishnan offered no immediate comment.

The offer will be made at a price of Rs 130.50 per share, reflecting a discount of around 7 per cent on the last closing market price of TV Today of Rs 140.20 per share on Tuesday. The promoter, Living Media India Ltd, owns 55.69 per cent equity stake in the company. At current market prices, TV Today has a market capitalisation of around Rs 813 crore, much below peers like NDTV (Rs 2,073 crore), TV Eighteen (Rs 3,748 crore) and Global Broadcast News (Rs 1,515 crore).

The CEO of another media company, who did not wish to be named, quoting Bombay Stock Exchange data, said Reliance Cap had bought stakes of between 3 per cent and 6 per cent in all these companies, reflecting its confidence in the electronic media.